Description:

Patton Jr. George 1885 - 1945
George Patton writes on hunting at Fort Riley; offered with the President's Cup awarded to the 1923 War Department Polo Team and an equestrian trophy issued to his wife Beatrice


Autograph Letter Signed, "George S Patton Jr.," 2 pages, 8" x 10.5" on Mounted Service School letterhead, Fort Riley, Kansas, October 13, 1914 to his mother. With the original transmittal envelope addressed to "Mrs. Geo. S. Patton San Gabriel California." Expected mailing folds, else very fine condition. Offered together with a sterling silver pitcher, 7" x 8.5" awarding the 1923 "PRESIDENT'S CUP" for polo to the War Department team and a sterling sliver trophy, 9.75" x 4.75", mounted on a 4.25" diameter wooden base, an award given to Beatrice Patton for "HAWAII'S SIXTH TERR[ITORIAL]. FAIR" of 1927. Both pieces bear some minor blemishes and minor wear.





Patton's letter reads in full: "Dear Mama: For the last two days it has been very cold almost winter. Yesterday we had a drag-hunt and there was one bad ditch in it so before starting I warned people that I would show them the ditch. I did I fell into it and both Wing and I lit on our heads but it did not hurt us a bit and we had a fine hunt. I just sent for three new fox hounds for the pack we simply had to have them and they did not cost very much. I took a rest Sunday by going on a coyote hunt with Dr. Hewett I rode over fifty miles in eleven hours and did not see a coyote but a bunch of young mules tried to kill the hounds and we had a lot of trouble keeping them off. Mrs Ayer had been very sick so B[eatrice] has not come yet I expect her about Sunday. Every thing is about as usual love to all Your devoted son George S Patton Jr."





The letter is accompanied by two trophies. The first is a pitcher awarding the "PRESIDENT'S CUP" to the War Department Polo team for their June 1923 victory at the Philadelphia Country Club. Patton was an avid polo player and had captained the highly successful 1922 Army squad before heading off for Kansas the following year, where he underwent further training, including the Field Officer's Course at Fort Riley and then the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, graduating 25th in his class in 1924. His success on the polo grounds won him the admiration of his former teammates—so much so that they apparently presented their 1923 trophy to him as a memento.





Patton, like many young cavalry officers, gravitated towards polo in some part due to the sport's inherent danger as well as its role in improving riding skills. In 1931, a cavalry officer was killed in a match at the Meadow Brook Club and over 70 percent of officers who played responded to a survey that they had been injured during play. Patton suffered numerous injuries, including a serious fall in 1936 that resulted in a serious head injury. Reflecting on the season of 1922, Patton wrote in the Cavalry Journal, "The virtue of polo as a military accomplishment rests on the following: it makes a man think fast while he is excited; it reduces his natural respect for his own safety - that is, makes him bold; it ... teach[es] restraint under exciting circumstances ... nearest to mounted combat; makes riding worthwhile; keeps a man hard ... [and] teach[es] better horse management." (George S. Patton, Jr., "Report of Operations of the Army Polo Team of 1922," Cavalry Journal, April 1923, p.233.)





The second trophy dates from Patton's posting in Hawaii from 1925 to 1927. His wife, Beatrice, shared her husband's passion for equestrian sports and this award was given to her during the 1927 annual Territorial Fair for"Best Saddle Horse Ladies won by BULL RUN RIDDEN BY BEATRICE AYER PATTON."

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